Blueberry Smell-o-Vision, AR popcorn buckets, and pickleball in the lobby won't make moviegoing great again

In 2017, renowned French actress Isabelle Huppert was asked about her favorite movie snack in a junket interview. “NO Snack!” Huppert replied: impressive as always. “No drink. No food. No noise!” (Come on. Can you really imagine Isabelle Huppert walking towards you? The cinema and go to town with a box of nachos and a blue ice cream?)

This video comes to mind often these days, as theaters and studios continue to announce new stunts that fill me with the same quiet disdain that Huppert does in this clip. Smell-o-see. Increasingly grotesque popcorn buckets. Zip lines. Imagine telling Isabelle Huppert about the zip lines.

The youngest comes via the A24. Selected screenings of their exciting new horror film HereticStarring Hugh Grant, you'll hear something no one has ever asked for: the piped-in scent of blueberry pie that fills the room during a blueberry pie-related moment on screen.

“When we first heard A24's bold idea to revive the multisensory experience to underscore this pivotal sequence, we burst out laughing,” said directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods diversity. “We are very pleased that audiences have this unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of film.”

Oh, sure. I know that sounds hypocritical coming from the star of MegalopolisThere is a live component, but I would argue that going to the cinema is already a multi-sensory experience. Watching and listening to the film is good enough.

Gimmicks for getting butts on seats have been around almost since the beginning of cinema. And 4DX – with vibration, fog, wind effects, etc. – has also been around for years. As we have explained GQit could well be the ideal way to see a blockbuster like, say, Twister. But it's not encouraging to see the genres take hold, aided by the obvious urge to create the next viral thing. I personally? I don't need to get Giardia out of the splash zone Gladiator II.

Speaking of which Gladiator IIit is at the forefront of the fight – against them Alien: Romulus Sample containers and the infamous dune Sandworm – to create the most unnecessarily ostentatious popcorn bucket to collect. In addition to the previously announced MF Doom tub, another option will be in the shape of the Colosseum, allowing you to scan a QR code and watch a butter-scented battle take place inside. (I'll remember this plastic production when I blog from my floating office in Underwater Manhattan.)

People still don't go to the cinema like they used to. It's expensive. There is streaming at home. Plus, audiences no longer knew how to behave in the cinema – what's the point of paying at least $20 per ticket and then goofing around on TikTok the entire time you're in the cinema? In response, theater owners have tried to lure people in with everything except, er, the actual movies. Take this report from diversity on a $2 billion plan to upgrade screens across the country, including pickleball courts and, yes, ziplining.

My favorite cinema is pretty much the opposite of all of these. The programming is well thought out. The popcorn kind of sucks. At a demonstration of Drive my carsomeone's phone rang twice and I thought there was going to be a real riot. If you think about it, perhaps this is the multi-sensory experience that theaters need to invest in – septuagenarians telling you when to shut up.